


Between All You Wish for and All You Need

by sambethe



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-13
Updated: 2014-01-13
Packaged: 2018-01-08 15:33:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1134377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sambethe/pseuds/sambethe
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>'If I could have, I would have sprung him long ago.'</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Between All You Wish for and All You Need

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ressie_noldo](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Ressie_noldo).



> Written for ressie_noldo as a pinch hit for hp_summergen. Thanks go to such_heights and liseuse for the betas; all remaining mistakes are my own.

'You'll come then? I think he could use a familiar face when he wakes.'

Andromeda nodded and Mrs Potter offered her a wan smile.

'Let me check on the baby and talk to Ted. I'll come through in a few minutes.'

*

Andromeda watched as Sirius turned fitfully, his hair tangling around his neck. She was surprised at how long it had become and wondered what else she had missed over the past few years. 

'I slipped him some Sleeping Draught about an hour ago,' said Mrs Potter quietly as she entered and handed a steaming mug to Andromeda. 

She accepted the mug without a word and took a sip before placing it on the bedside table. 'When did he arrive?'

'Earlier this evening, we were just sitting down for dinner. He looked a mess, like he'd been running for days. Wasn't able to get him to tell me how he'd got here. I didn't hear the Knight Bus and even if he could Apparate, he didn't seem to be in any position to do so without Splinching.'

Andromeda nodded absently and reached out to smooth back his sweat-drenched hair. 

'You'll watch him for a bit?' 

She nodded again and Mrs Potter quietly turned and pulled the door shut behind her. Andromeda removed her hand from Sirius's hair and went to take one of his hands in her own. It was only then that she noticed the smell of Murtlap essence and realised it was wrapped tightly in bandages.

'Oh, puppy,' she whispered and leant over to kiss his forehead. 'I'm so sorry.' 

*

It had been 3 years, 4 months and 24 days since she stepped out onto the front steps of her childhood home, handed Ted Tonks one Lightened trunk and quietly closed the door behind her. It had also been 3 years, 4 months and 19 days since she married the same Ted Tonks in a small ceremony held at the home of a mutual friend. And it had been 3 years, 4 months and 17 days since she received a letter from the Offices of Galvin & Howe announcing she been disinherited from the Black family. 

She hadn't wanted to leave and the cool ease with which her family excised her from their lives had shaken her more than she'd ever been willing to admit to anyone. However, sitting there that night listening to Sirius's murmurs and moans she felt unexpectedly grateful for that ease. 

For her there had been no screaming, yelling or arguing, no hexes thrown, threats made or angry words exchanged. And despite the lingering anger at her family, there had also been no regrets; she made a decision and walked out the door. It was that simple. 

Had she wanted to leave her sisters or her cousins behind? Of course not. But if she had it to do all over again, she would make exactly the same choices.

Wiping a flannel over Sirius's damp brow, she wondered if he'd ever be able to feel the same clarity about his own.

*

Andromeda wasn't sure how long she sat there lost in her thoughts, but when she roused herself she was surprised to find James Potter standing in the doorway.

He stared at her resolutely and she wanted to smile not only at the clear determination written across his face but the fact that no matter how much he had aged and grown, his hair still stuck out in an impossible number of directions.

'You can't make him go back,' he said quietly.

Andromeda schooled her face into an expression of cool neutrality and stared back at him. 

James squared his shoulders and did not look away. 'This is his home. Always has been. I won't let you send him back there.'

She stood and grabbing her empty mug, walked over to him. She reached out and tilted his chin down with her free hand so that he was looking directly at her.

'You really think I would send him back to that snake pit they euphemistically call a house?'

James's determined expression melted into one of surprise. 'But -' he started.

She smiled sadly. 'If I could have, I would have sprung him long ago.' She then lowered her hand and squeezed his shoulder. 'Watch him a moment for me, will you? I need to Floo Ted.' Without waiting for a response, she slipped past James and into the hallway. 

*

By the time she returned to Sirius's room, James was also fast asleep, his head tilted against the back of his chair. Andromeda shook her head and directed her wand at a pile of blankets stacked in the corner. With a whispered word, the topmost one unfolded and laid itself over him.

She walked over, tucked it in around him and removed his glasses, setting them on the bedside table. As she watched the two of them sleep, she marvelled at how little the fundamentals of their friendship had changed since she had first seen them together. 

As Head Girl she should have been one of the first ones out of the Great Hall directly after the Welcoming Feast. However, with a number of the Hall's occupants stunned by her cousin's sorting she found herself the recipient of far too many insipid questions as she tried to leave.

By the time she reached the corridor, she was greeted by the sight of Evan Rosier, who not two days ago was sitting in the garden at Grimmauld Place with Sirius planning all they'd do once they got to Hogwarts, firing a Jelly-Leg Jinx at her cousin's back. Before she could even grip her wand to fire off an Expelliarmus, James had his out and Rosier found himself covered in some sort of foul smelling slime. 

Disgruntled that she'd have to dock her own House points before term had even started, she aimed the Expelliarmus at all three and collected their wands up neatly. She then sent Rosier off to the common room in the care of Narcissa, with whispered promises that she'd deal with him later, and moved over to where James was propping Sirius upright. With another wave, she cast a Finite Incantatem in Sirius's direction.

She handed them their wands and said, 'go.'

James looked up at her in surprise but Sirius shot her a smile.

'Go,' she repeated, 'before I change my mind.' She then turned and quickly walked down the corridor. If, when she reached the end, she stopped and watched the two boys disappear up the staircase together, neither boy turned to notice.

*

It was two days before Sirius woke. 

During that time, Andromeda alternated watching over him with each of the Potters. At some point James was joined by two other boys who took up residence in James's room and shared his grim, determined expression. Andromeda watched as they moved through the house, all too subdued for a pack of 16-year-old boys.

She was sitting at his bedside when the effects of the draught finally wore off. After sitting up, he opened his mouth a couple of times and tried to speak but no words came forth. She handed him a glass of water, which he accepted gratefully.

Once he was finished he placed the glass on the table and rubbed at his eyes. 'Meda?' he finally asked, his voice rough with sleep and disuse. 

'Who'd you expect? Narcissa?'

'How'd you -'

'We Blacks, even the disowned ones, have our ways.'

He smiled at her weakly but she wasn't naive enough to believe it was truly felt. She reached over and ruffled his hair lightly. 'Let me go round up your friends, they've been anxious about you.'

*

Later that same evening, she settled down on the couch, folded her legs up underneath her and watched as Nymphadora arranged and rearranged a pile of blocks on the carpet.

'He's going to be okay?' asked Ted as he handed her a cup of tea and settled in beside her.

Andromeda leant her head against his shoulder. Sighing she said, 'please tell me that all families aren't as mad as my own.'

When Ted wrapped his arm around her shoulders and squeezed her tightly, she tried not to read too much into his lack of response one way or another.


End file.
